08 SEP 2010

Today we are going to go to New Orleans. We had done some research on the net for a gay B&B to stay at and were able to book 2 nights at one close to the downtown, old French Quarter. But before we head off we have to go to Walluka Springs State Park. This means a 20 mile drive in the wrong direction but the write up is too good to pass.

The drive was fantastic as we drove down a road that was totally canopied with trees on both sides. This is the kind of road you see in movies but seldom experience.

We got to the state park by following the GPS but someone forgot to tell her that the entrance had been changed so we had a slight bit of confusion, but our grey cells figured it out for us. All is good.

In the park is the world’s largest and deepest natural on land spring creating a river. The water temperature is constant 68-70 degrees. On average 250 million gallons of water flow from Wakulla Spring every day forming an nine-mile river that reaches the Gulf of Mexico.

In the park is a lodge available for those who wish to discover a get-a-way and close to the lodge is a swimming area for swimmers open to the public. We have informed that often this beach is packed every day during the swimming season (I assumed July and August but feel a turned around with calendar down this far south – maybe Dec and Jan.

We took a boat tour to explore part of the 9 mile river which was teeming with wildlife. I am not going to try to name everything but will let the pictures tell the story of what we say – way more than we saw on the Florida Everglades.

After we finished at the park we headed towards New Orleans. We had thought that a 6 hour drive would not be too bad but forgot that we were going to explore the park so we did not get to New Orleans until almost 6 (and that included having a time change of one hour). Not a problem we enjoyed the drive and screnery. We did find that some of the bridges were very long and very wide...like a freeway built over the waterways (although they were not deep we learned it still was water). At one point heading into New Orleans we crossed a ‘bridge’ that seemed to be miles long and then dropped down into a deep tunnel to go under part of the city (I think since I was below and could not see above).

As we drove into town to locate the B&B we had booked at we were getting a bit concerned about the neighbourhood. It seemed to be very seedy and run down and of course we are anxious about the car being parked, the neighbourhood we would walk through, etc. We wanted to be close enough to the old French Quarter to be able to walk there which explains why we picked the B&B.

Once inside the B&B we found a very comfortable home that had 4 bedrooms set up for B&B so very cozy and friendly. We are assured that the neighbourhood is safe unless we decided to walk into a few particular areas (and we do not). So we settled in, and went for a walk to a recommended place for dinner. After dinner we walked down to the old French Quarter which I will describe more tomorrow when I have a chance to take some pictures. We especially walked down Bourbon Street.

After we walked back towards the B&B and stopped for a drink at a pub (Big Daddies – cool name) that had been suggested by our host for a drink. This is a true neighbourhood pub frequented by local people. It was not crowded but we met a few people there and was immediately included into their conversations. They encouraged and welcomed questions about New Orleans and in particular we learned about their experiences regarding Katrina.

We also noted while walking downtown that there is something being planned for today that is huge. New Orleans Saints (football) is having their first game tomorrow night and it will start with a parade (Mardi Gras style) This seems to be a huge deal and I think we lucked out in coming at this time, although we will not likely get to see the game. In addition tomorrow night is a free concert in the part with Taylor Swift, but likely we will not be able to get near the stage to see her, but we will try.

Time to shut down and get some sleep since tomorrow will be a busy day I am positive. Check in to see what we managed here in New Orleans.